Spend on Experiences !!! Make memories all over the world...

In our previous blog we shared our experience on Theog, Himachal Pradesh and how did we manage to reach our hotel.  We also talked about our wonderful spa session.
​
If you haven't read, here is a quick link Theog - A Quiet Escape Into The Mountains Part 1.

​

The next Day (Day 3) started at 6:00 a.m. with another hike uphill, crossing paths with a Tibetan house with a history of war. It was the only house in an around 1000 acres of land which survived the war. The hike was planned to enjoy the mother nature, away from the city stress.  Point of being away from crowded Shimla town was achieved. 

Its funny how one never sulks about being sleepy or any misadventures coming your way when you are in mountains.
On the slopes of these pine tree covered mountains we came across a quaint lil village with just about handful of houses. Almost all of them had a House With A view, perfectly nestled  to soak in the views and savor the serenity. Most of the houses still had the old traditional charm with mud walls and cobbled roofs resting on wooden logs.

Our path was smooth and uneventful, surrounded by Pine trees and patch of small apple orchards. We found ourselves admiring the beauty of the woods and the vegetation covered with fresh snow. The sun rays could not touch the forest floor as the treetops which created a canopy over our head were dense. There was a gentle breeze, creating the single sound of rustling leaves. The leaves appeared as though they were dying to fall out of the tree and join their companions on the forest floor. Together with pine needles and other flora the leaves formed a thick springy carpet for us to walk upon.

The whole setting was augmented by bird chirpings and rustling leaves, giving us our moment of the morning session of mindfulness. But.........
Our little conversation with our instructor/guide filled the air with folklores of Theog. He surprised us by carrying 2 portable chairs & a foldable table. Not to forget he had a picnic kit ( Tea, muffins and some peanut + jaggery bars.  Spending about an hour in the wilderness, we spoke about how the most dramatic elements of the area were the majestic trees themselves. Tall and stately, glowing red trunks and high crowns towering over a thick vegetation with grasses and native plants. We even started planning for our next vacation. 

The journey to Theog ( Himachal Pradesh ) was a planned vacation. This hamlet of less than 5,000 people is well-connected to the rest of Himachal Pradesh via National Highways 5 and 705. It started around 1.30pm from Chandigarh Airport (Punjab) which is about 150 kms to our destination.

The journey was filled with excitement, as it was going to be an action packed 4 days tour. The windows were down ( in the initial leg of our journey) music was on and 100 miles of adventure to be covered on your wheels. Inspite of the weather being distinctively windy, we pulled off at many places to admire the valley and the surrounding beauty. 
We were half way through, just about to cross Shimla ​( 30 kms away from Taj Theog ) as the snow started falling, it made it difficult to drive. What was a wonderful journey so far, now, has turned into once in a life time experience for us. The S-curve road and the sharp U-turns of the mountains, covered with snow made the 1hr drive to a 4 long hrs., as the vehicle wheels kept skidding over the thin ice sheets even at a speed of 10 kmph. Out of sheer joy we could not stop asking our driver ‘Sirji’ (name of the car driver) to stop the car as we were amazed by the outside view and the snowfall.

​After few minutes of play with snow we were chilled to our bones, we could not even switch on the heater as the car was not a 4 wheel drive and we could not afford the engine to seize. The last leg of the journey was muddy and off-road upwards drive to the top of a hill where , 'Taj' which was recently opened, was nestled.